Cayden

Surgebinding comes from spren, which is basically their recreation of the link between a Herald and an Honorblade, we've basically seen Nalan surgebind and use stormlight to be able to keep up with a surgebinder so he must either have a spren or an Honorblade. The real question in my mind is which of the Heralds reclaimed their blade as well. If one of the 7 has been retrieved then it was by a Herald. As for the Skybreakers keeping their rules? Im not sure about that I think Nalan's mind is broken and that he cannot get over the fact that he has betrayed his Oath, and his response for that is an almost zealous dedication to making sure no other surgebinders can betray their oaths or missuse their abilities. But yes I think Taln's blade was switched, my main reason for that more than anything and is something I was wondering when Dalinar first said he had bonded it was that he felt no different, he could not absorb stormlight, yes he might not have tried but if he had to carry it around for a week, I would be surprised if he could manage to not breath in while holding a gemstone in his pocket and realise he has something special. Im actually wondering if Zahel will end up with an Honorblade, seems like there has to be a very good reason for being there, maybe Hoid is playing tricks and made sure that Nightblood would be on Roshar as a last ditched defence against Odium. Maybe he offered Zahel a chance to help them while not needing Breath and freedom from the sword.

Some pre-date them, But I suspect that the spren which can bond with mankind are the same as those that can bond with Parshendi. Makes sense in a way that the Parshendi couldnt get new forms because those spren were not interacting with the occupants on Roshar, until a very brief time ago. as for why it would have been remarked upon... we have Jasnah doing research into them, Kaladin and co talking about them and you dont think one of them mention that they are immortal barring injury or accident? sorry but that just doesnt fit to me, but then again thats just my opinion but until we see even some semblance of a fact to state that they do not die in a reasonable lifespan then ill go on assuming that its within a range similar to that of the humans. As for the native life, I thought that the truly native life has Violet blood. I.e chasmfiends, chulls, axe-hounds and that it was the non native species (or re-engineered species) which have red(human) or orange(Parsh)

It depends, because in some ways it seems like Mateform is basically a form where Estrus is pretty much permanent and they have to really focus to concentrate their desires on anything except making babies and caring for babies. But if thats the case are they infertile in other form or merely very unlikely to conceive? I expect it to be a greatly diminished fertility. Asin 5% chance to conceive opposed to 50%, thats assuming that the Parsh dont have an estrus cycle outside of Mateform. It might be that they are only fertile for a brief period of time. It makes no sense for other forms to have no fertility or they would be extinct as a species, if they were immortal it would have been remarked upon, they might all look similar to humans, but I trust that those humans can count and see that there number of slaves stays consistent over hundreds of years. Parshmen to me seem like that guy everyone knows at work, the one who lacks initiative, who if you do not tell what to do he'll sit there and do nothing. You give him an instruction and he'll do it till its done, but once it is he will sit there until you tell him to do something else, he lacks the initiative to come and ask for the next task. Initiative is what makes a person or a parshendi in many ways. doesnt matter how capable you are if you have no initiative to get it done without being told to do it. Besides, the Parshendi are likely constructs created by Cultivation, it would explain their reverence for the dead, how they want them left on stone, but also how adaptive they are, they're tools which can shape themselves to fit whatever is needed and before Odium arrived they were probably the ideal tools to help mankind. It also explains why they need to bond with specific spren in order to activate those tools and skillsets, if they were native to Roshar, and the spren did not arrive until Honor and Cultivation terraformed the planet then they would pre-date spren.

gotta wait till the 6th for me haha. the curse of living in europe. so will likely just buy the ebook first thing in the morning and read that while waiting for the hard copy

"Hello this is Kaladin, he and his squad saved both Adolin and I along with several thousand of our troops from a Parshendi ambush, oh he also saved me from a Shardbearer..." Think Amaram might recall something similar. Personally though I think he will remember him and I would not be surprised if he still doesnt feel guilty about it, I actually think Amaram was one of the better lighteyes until he did what he did.

I dont think Shallan has yet, I think its part mindset and partly to do with a dire situation, At least until things have been set up formally, Dalinar has heard some of the words in his head during a battle scene, im 99% sure that I remember him hearing them and wondering whose voice that was. Will need to go through and check, if this is the case then it gives an interesting facet to the ideals.

interesting, myself ive been wondering if they arent linked more with the Oathpact than anything else. Szeth's oathstone is my reasoning for this, they had to have gotten that idea from somewhere and the Shin seem to have a deeper understanding of the world and its past than many others. Who knows, if they are the Oathstones of the Heralds then perhaps they could have been used to control the Heralds, would explain why they wanted Szeth to kill Galivar rather than risking it themselves. Szeth cannot kill his master either. All it would take would be the holder of the stone to say "dont kill me." and bam the Herald would be the next best thing to useless. So they give an Honorblade to Szeth's masters and set him on the path to kill Galivar. My reasoning for why an Oathstone of a Herald would be black is because it would basically be a contract written by Odium, they are essentially doing what he wants by not helping humans so he wouldnt care what happens with the stones. I wonder if Galivar found the stone at the same time that the Highstorm and Death visions began though?

Quite a good point actually, I think im off on that bit, but there has to be a reason other than the soulcaster that they want her dead

I think they are two distinctly different powers, we know for a fact that the Highstorm visions are of the past and in some cases the distant past. But what if the Death Visions are of the future? Honor states that Cultivation is better at seeing the future than he is, so perhaps this is something she is doing and in many cases fits in closer with how Cultivating works than it would if they were an Honor based occurrence. Also things to note: Taravangian is incredibly knowledgeable about Shin culture, something which is almost certain to be a Cultivation based society if anywhere on Roshar is, he knew about Szeth so its even possible if not probably that either he was trained by someone high ranking from Shinovar or his organisation originates from there. If this is indeed the case then he might well realise that these visions are from Cultivation and that is why they are so important to mankind, worth risking damning himself in the process of acquiring as much information as possible. I dont think he is part of the Ghostbloods though,

Mitsubishi logo perhaps?

To me its a form of corruption, a way to twist an individual into wanting to kill because it makes them feel powerful and is almost overwhelming in many respects, it took Dalinar a great deal of effort to shrug it off, we havent really seen enough viewpoints of it to get a real feel for things. Even if its not corruption per say, and is like an Odium based heightened sense of euphoria whenever whenever you fight to kill, making you crave to keep on doing it. It would explain why the Alethi are quite so focused on war as it sounds almost addictive.

Interesting I may well be totally off then, but the way he worded it does not state that the Oathpact is in the same form as it was before so it remains to be seen, thanks for the WoB quote though always good to see more. I shouldnt have split the paragraph where I did, in my head I put the previous line about the Heralds self hatred opening them to corruption. Also Radiants whom are being forced to kill humans might feel quite a great deal of loathing and self hatred as well. Look at how Dalinar gets, he feels sick at times. I think the Radiants shattering had many aspects, some parts of it being ill use, other parts of it being because of the Heralds. But I still think their is some Odium based twisting going on. I was under the impression that the Radiants formed quite a while after Nohadon, it wasnt really clear in any way shape or form except that the Radiants were founded based on the Codes and partly based on Nohadon's Way of Kings. But me guessing that he often did that is as valid and likely as anything, but I dont know if it is implicitly stated that he did this no. Though i'd love to see the quote stating that Nohadon founded the KR, that is something that ive wanted to know about because who founded it is quite a big deal, especially if Dalinar is following in Nohadon's footsteps.

It has merits but I dont think this is entirely the case. The pact between Honor and Odium (and possibly Cultivation) was shattered when Honor's champions broke their word. I think this enabled Odium to go after Honor directly and destroy him. One on one Odium was stronger because he had not invested his power to create anything, he also has experience in killing and shattering shards. Darkness' mission though that is an interesting thing, but it all ties down to a few key points. The Parshendi(and Parshmen) and the Knights Radiant, I really dont think that Odium would want Surgebinders around as a whole. I think he wanted them gone, and managed to persuade the Parshmen and the Knights Radiants to abandon their spren, I suspect that he's managed to corrupt the Heralds somehow, probably due to their own self hatred over what they have done. I dont think Odium needs a spike to twist you like Ruin did, I think he needs Hatred to influence you. My reasons for this are fairly simple, whenever Dalinar is starting to feel the thrill and especially at times where he is acting most honourable and self sacrificing, he starts hearing a voice. Likely a remnant of Honor, sometimes he hears the ideals. To me that means its perfectly plausible for Odium to be able to influence people, and that he has altered the thrill and has set things in motion to limit the amount of surgebinders, wipe them out as a whole, make them so feared and hated that no one will want to bring them back. Personally I think that the everstorm has been forced earlier than Odium had planned, I think something Galivar did sparked off a large number of surgebinders and basically turned on Honor's last will and testimony in his highstorm visions and death visions. Makes me wonder if those Blackstones are somehow linked to the Oathpact, they make me wonder just how alike they are to the Oathstone of Szeths, especially when its highly likely that the Stone Shamans were founded by a Herald or two. went off on a tangent there but overall I dont think Odium is bound by the same rules, I just think he was waiting for certain conditions, that he was waiting for the Alethi to attempt to conquer and enslave the rest of the world and when they were at their weakest to strike. Look at Sadeas' and several other Alethi lighteyes idea's we've seen and you know that they want conquest. Add that in with what we've seen in the Nohadon vision, we know that Odium often waits for a catastrophic war, whether he manipulated it to start or not before he strikes. If this is the case, then I suspect that when Galivar started hearing Honor and quite possibly got his spren or got close to it he decided to prod the Parshendi into starting a war knowing that the Alethi would try to wipe them out, add in a surgebinder or two and you have motives for them to try and relearn their lost and dangerous forms, those forms which open them to corruption.

I think it will be something along the lines of "By my actions I shall lead the way to Honor." but then again it could well be something far more simple and more along the lines of "I will aid those who seek redemption."

This is slow torture haha we have to wait what seems like an eternity to find out the rest but i think im gonna buy the ebook as well as the hardback just so i get it the day it comes out. Very good chapters this day, and so far i am as impressed with this as I was with tWoK

has anyone got to the last bit of Kal's chapter? damnation it gave me goosebumps. Amaram is not gonna be happy when he turns around and see's him.

I think she might well give it to Renarin so he has a complete set, but yeah I fully expect it to come out at some point. I think when the parshmen go batsquit crazy she will kill one or two

If you knew that bad stuff was going to be happening, as in end of the world sort of stuff then would you want such a powerful weapon being in the hands of someone who is not capable of utilising it fully? Shardplate and Blade is effectively an army unto itself, and Kaladin gave it away to someone who did not earn it. Put another way: Your a soldier and stumble upon a battle-tank in the american civil war, something so powerful that it could change the course of history. and then you go and give it to someone else, even though you know that you would be better off using it than they, not to mention countless others. You know damned well that your commanding officer would put a stop to it. Personally I think the way he did it was really harsh but this is a world where Darkeyed people are seen as lesser, not quite the social disparagy of Scadrial but they still see them as lesser. So they would kill them for the greater good rather than let the truth come out. I think that had Kaladin not saved Amaram he would have been killed too. What hurt Kaladin was that he believed Amaram was better than this, not that this would not have been a standard thing for a Lighteyed person to do, not to mention that Amaram to me seems to be someone who needs a master to tell him what to do. He might he a good officer, but hes a puppet.

They're valuable in part because of soulcasting, think more along the lines of Atium. It isnt really worth anything to you unless you can use it, but it does serve as a perfect example that value is subjective. On Earth precious metals are usually held as a baseline, up until modern times but in reality these items are only worth what we believe them to be worth. On Roshar those gems when infused with Stormlight can be used to create other things. such as food, metals, wood and other items, this is why Emerald's are so valuable as they essentially make warfare practical.

nah who killed Asmodean is closer to who killed Gaz. But atleast he's been honest and hasnt told us there are clues as to who did it.

Myself, I see Adolin kicking Amaram's backside up and down the dueling field, and then Adolin and Kaladin becoming BFF. I really dont think Kaladin will fight him unless Amaram starts it. 1) that would be a sure way to lose the protection his men has. 2) it would go against what he believes in. I do think it will come out though, I think Dalinar will investigate the bad blood and then find out about it all, and finally Jasnah or Shallan will heal Kaladins slave brand

Indeed, its a very good catch almost like losing an ear-ring. I had a suspision that it was Elholkar who drew in the stormlight somehow though and cracked his own, not quite sure how Dalinar would draw in stormlight from only Elhokar and ignore his own and Adolins gems. I dont think it could be that selective and if he drew in enough to crack them, from large gems then the observers would have seen the trail of stormlight flying towards Dalinar. Though I suppose that last part depends on just how Dalinar absorbs stormlight

Its very well known because it is a scandal, she is a heretic in possession of something which traditionally only Ardents are allowed to use. Its something which everyone who follows the Vorin faith will likely know and frown upon.

Actually does fit in some ways, we know that a person has to be prepared before they can pick up a shard safely from Vin. If she hasnt touched the WoE then it would have harmed or killed her. So you might well be right that taking up the shard put him into a type of coma and that the highstorm is the subconscious mind of Honor, and that is why the highstorm visions hold flashbacks, im not quite sure how much information Harmony could gleam about his shards previous owners but I think it was quite substantial so it seems like shards do carry residual memory of their actions. So what if Honor knew he was dying, and deliberately set it up so that Jezrien took the shard, or the remnants or flat out forced him to take it, in a last ditched effort to save all, even knowing that it would harm him. Jezrien would probably have agreed anyway but it could be an interesting possibility.

I think the reason they prefer to be called cryptics is that though they are called liespren, they seek powerful truths. One of the meanings of "Cryptic" is having a hidden meaning. Maybe they gain power from said truths, or horde them for their own benefit, but from what we've heard so far they are a very powerful group of spren, they are cunning and intelligent and very likely ruthless. Whats the bet that Cryptics treat other spren the way Lighteyes treat Darkeyes. Maybe there is a reason Honorspren and Cryptics dont get along, and why Syl can sympathise with Kaladin so regarding his hatred of Lighteyes, afterall a small part of herself might correlate the same behavioural pattern with something her kind has experienced.